FRIENDS´ EVENTS

Above: Trade Card depicting Soho Manufactory, Published by James Bisset, 1800; (detail) 1996F137; Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust, licensed under CC0

How to Book Events –either by email or by post

BY EMAIL

Send an email to friendsofbmag@gmail.com listing: all the events you would like to go to, how many tickets you would like for each event, and whether the tickets are for members or non-members. Please include your membership number if applicable.

You will be sent an email reply and information about how to pay for the events by bank transfer. Once the bank transfer has been received you will receive a further email confirming your booking.

BY POST

Write to us including: all the events you would like to go to, how many tickets you would like for each event, and whether the tickets are for members or non-members. Please include your membership number if applicable.

Please work out the total amount due and send a cheque, made payable to ‘FBMAG’, to: Friends of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Soho House Museum, Soho Avenue, Birmingham, B18 5LB. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope so we can issue you with your ticket(s) and confirm your booking(s).

`Evie: a twentieth–century woman´

Date: Tuesday 15 November 2022, 11am Venue: Winterbourne House and Gardens, 58 Edgbaston Park Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RT Speaker: Henrietta Lockhart, Collections Officer, Winterbourne House Cost: £10 members / £14 non-members (NB. The entrance fee is separate as many members of the Friends are also members of Winterbourne. For those who aren’t, please pay at reception. Adults: £8.20; Over 65s: £7.20) Meeting Point: The reception in Winterbourne at 10.45am for an 11am start How to get there: By car from city centre: Along the Bristol Road, turn right into Edgbaston Park Rd and then past the University. Winterbourne is on the right. There is a 50 space car park and 2 blue badge spaces beside the house. By bus: The X21 and X22 buses stop just round the corner from Winterbourne. They pick up from the city centre by Moor Street station. More details about frequency and other stops can be found at the National Express website: www.nxbus.co.uk [NB. This event was advertised in the Autumn 2022 edition of ‘Artefacts’. If you have already applied to attend this event, please do not reapply.]

EVENT KEY

Above: Evelyn Crosskey, around 1926, Winterbourne House and Garden, University of Birmingham

As chair of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Committee in 1955, Evelyn Crosskey (née Nettlefold) led on the purchase of Henry Moore's sculpture 'The Warrior'. Who was she, and what did this choice of artwork say about the principles that guided her life? This talk will use archival material held at Winterbourne House and Garden to explore the life and personality of a woman who lived through wars and profound social upheaval, and played her part in changing the world for the better.

`Matthew Boulton and the Forgers´

Date: Wednesday 14 December 2022, 10.30am for an 11am start. Coffee will be available on arrival Venue: Soho House Museum, Soho Avenue, off Soho Road, Birmingham, B18 5LB Speaker: Dr David Symons, former Curator at Birmingham Museums Trust Cost: Free, but donations will be much appreciated By car: Take the A41 out of the city centre towards Handsworth. There is a small car park at Soho House and there is also onstreet parking. By bus: 74 from Snow Hill Ringway. Get off at the second stop after the Hockley Flyover and Soho Avenue is on the left. By the late eighteenth century Britain’s coinage was in a terrible state. The copper coinage in particular was dominated by unofficial issues and out-and-out counterfeits, many made in Birmingham. Matthew Boulton campaigned for years against this situation and insisted that his Soho Mint could make coins that were impossible to counterfeit. In 1797 he was given his chance. This talk will see how he got on in his battle against the counterfeiters. It will also look at a few earlier instances when people asked him to counterfeit foreign coins for them.

Come and Meet the Committee

Date: Wednesday 14 December 2022, 12noon - following on from the talk by David Symons Venue: Soho House Museum, Soho Avenue, off Soho Road, Birmingham, B18 5LB Cost: Free, but donations will be much appreciated Refreshments - a glass of wine or a soft drink and nibbles - will be provided We invite all Friends Members, BMT staff and anyone who might like to join us to take this opportunity to meet the Friends’ Committee and other Friends, to catch up with each other’s adventures and to celebrate the Friends over a glass of wine or a soft drink and some nibbles! The Covid pandemic has resulted in a difficult couple of years and yet the Friends have continued to support BMT – helping to purchase new acquisitions and supporting the conservation of ‘The Star of Bethlehem’. We moved office in May and are now based at Soho House Museum so please use this opportunity to visit the new office.

We are not charging for the talk or for the ‘meet and greet’ and so if you wish to make a donation towards the costs prior to the event then please send these to us. Donation plates will also be available on the day. It is important that we know numbers for catering purposes so please book your place using the instructions above. It will be lovely to see you all.

PS. It’s all right to turn up at 12noon just for the ‘Meet and Greet’!

A Tour of Birmingham Cathedral – St Phillip´s

Date: Thursday 9 February 2023, at 2.15pm for a 2.30pm start Speaker and Tour Guide: Jane McArdle, Birmingham Cathedral’s Head of Learning Cost: £10 members / £14 non-members Meeting point: Inside the entrance to St Phillip’s, Colmore Row The tour will be given by Jane McArdle who will explore the history and development of a Church that became a Cathedral, a building described by Alexander Wedgewood as a ‘most subtle example of the elusive English baroque’. The ‘Divine Beauty’ project to restore the remarkable Burne-Jones designed stained glass windows which were produced by Morris & Co, will be in full swing so there will be an opportunity to understand what is involved in the conservation. Refreshments are not available but after the tour we will adjourn to one of the many cafes nearby, for

Above: Birmingham those who wish to.

Cathedral © Richard Postill